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Investigates the role of retinal location on the spatial distribution of visual attention by testing for distance effects across retinal areas. Findings that distance effects are not homogenous across retinal location; Disagreements regarding the width of attended area; Evidences that suggest differences in the extensiveness of distance effects at different locations of the retina.

Investigates the effect of the visibility of near and far letter distractors on target processing by scaling the size letters to compensate for changes in resolution across the visual field. Presentation of the target; Information on data relating to targets.

ABSTRACT. A search task was used in two studies to investigate whether clock times are processed holistically or whether they can be formed from hour and minute components presented concurrently in different stimuli. In the first experiment, two kinds of catch trials were compared: control trials and conjunction trials False-alarm rates were significantly higher in the conjunction condition than in the control condition, and this difference was apparent whether the distractor display contained times in the same format (either digits or words) or in a different format. In the second study, differences between the results in the distractor conditions were found to be a function of similarity between the distractor display and the target time. Control trials that included a component of the target time generated more false alarms than control trials that did not. The findings suggest that times are processed numerically in a bottom-up manner that may be consistent with feature-integration theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. Context and attention to critical features as factors in determining the perceptual organization of ambiguous figures were investigated in the present two studies. In the first study, a fixation point directed attention to a critical or to a neutral feature of an ambiguous figure. Placement of the fixation point on different features of an ambiguous figure did not affect the figure-ground organization of the figure, but it did influence the speed of the identification response. In the second study, presentation of an ambiguous figure was preceded by a biased figure or by features of the figure. Results indicated that the interpretation of the ambiguous figure was overwhelmingly influenced by the advanced presentation of a biased drawing but only slightly influenced by the advanced presentation of a critical feature. These findings support analysis-by-the-synthesis (Neisser, 1967) as an explanation of the perception of ambiguous figures over other contemporary attention theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. A speeded yes/no task was developed and tested in three studies that examined the role of familiarity in proofreading. A signal detection theory analysis was used to separate effects due to the discriminability of errors from influences on the placement of the response criterion for detecting errors. Experiment 1 tested whether repetition of the stimulus items influenced measures of discrimination and response bias; Experiment 2 varied the number of times that sentences were proofread; and Experiment 3 required subjects to read aloud the stimuli a varying number of times to manipulate familiarity. As subjects became increasingly familiar with the proofreading task, they shifted the placement of the response criterion, indicating an increased reluctance to make a detection response. These findings were explained within the context of those vigilance studies that reported shifts in the response criterion with increasing time spent on a task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study on the processing of stimuli presented at uncued locations of a multielement display. Methodology used to conduct the study; Discussion based on the results of the study.

Abstract: A series of experiments was conducted to examine conceptual priming within and across modalities with pictures and environmental sounds. In Experiment 1, we developed a new multimodal stimulus set consisting of two picture and sound exemplars that represented 80 object items. In Experiments 2, we investigated whether categorization of the stimulus items would be facilitated by picture and environmental sound primes that were derived from different exemplars of the target items; and in Experiments 3 and 4, we tested the additional influence on priming when trials were consolidated within a target modality and the inter stimulus interval was lengthened. The results demonstrated that target categorization was facilitated by the advanced presentation of conceptually related exemplars, but there were differences in effectiveness when pictures and sounds appeared as primes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Developed a system, CS Materials, to input and classify pedagogical materials against curriculum guidelines. • Classified over 200 materials in the system. • Show how the system is useful for instructors of early CS courses to find and adopt PDC content. • Show how the system is useful for PDC experts to identify classic early CS topics that do not have good PDC content. The NSF/IEEE-TCPP Parallel and Distributed Computing curriculum guidelines released in 2012 (PDC12) represents an effort to bring more parallel computing concepts into early computer science courses. To date, it has been moderately successful, with the inclusion of some PDC topics in the ACM/IEEE Computer Science curriculum guidelines in 2013 (CS13) and mentions of PDC topics in the Computing Curricula 2020. Additionally, some universities in the U.S. and around the world have started to cover some of these topics in early CS courses. Lack of knowledge of or training in PDC topics among instructors, along with the need to align early CS course content with prescribed learning objectives in the curricula, are often cited as hurdles for adoption in early CS courses. There have been attempts at bringing PDC materials, such as textbook chapters, lecture slides, assignments, and demos to assist instructors of early CS classes. However, the effort required on the part of the instructor to figure out what is relevant to a particular class can be daunting. In this work, we contend that simultaneously classifying pedagogical materials against the CS13 and the PDC12 curriculum guidelines can address some of the challenges faced by instructors and can promote broader adoption of PDC materials in early CS courses. We present CS Materials , a system that can be used to categorize pedagogical materials according to well-known and established curricular guidelines. We show that CS Materials can be leveraged 1) by instructors of early CS courses to find materials that are similar to the one that they use but that also cover PDC topics, and 2) by instructors to check the coverage of topics (and gaps) in a course, and 3) by PDC experts to identify topics for which PDC instructional materials do not exist or are insufficient in order to inform development of additional PDC curricular materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: While virtual reality environments have been shown to reduce pain, the precise mechanism that produces the pain attenuating effect has not been established. It has been suggested that it may be the ability to command attentional resources with the use of head mounted displays (HMDs) or the interactivity of the environment. Two experiments compared participants’ pain ratings to high and low levels of electrical stimulation while engaging in interactive gaming with an HMD. In the first, gaming with the HMD was compared to a positive emotion induction condition; and in the second experiment the HMD was compared to a condition in which the game was projected onto a wall. Interactive gaming significantly reduced numerical ratings of painful stimuli when compared to the baseline and affect condition. However, when the two gaming conditions were directly compared, they equally reduced participants’ pain ratings. These data are consistent with past research showing that interactive gaming can attenuate experimentally induced pain and its effects are comparable whether presented in a head mounted display or projected on a wall. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Although research has found that long-term mindfulness meditation practice promotes executive functioning and the ability to sustain attention, the effects of brief mindfulness meditation training have not been fully explored. We examined whether brief meditation training affects cognition and mood when compared to an active control group. After four sessions of either meditation training or listening to a recorded book, participants with no prior meditation experience were assessed with measures of mood, verbal fluency, visual coding, and working memory. Both interventions were effective at improving mood but only brief meditation training reduced fatigue, anxiety, and increased mindfulness. Moreover, brief mindfulness training significantly improved visuo-spatial processing, working memory, and executive functioning. Our findings suggest that 4days of meditation training can enhance the ability to sustain attention; benefits that have previously been reported with long-term meditators. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This research investigated how the similarity of the rendering parameters of background and foreground objects affected egocentric depth perception in indoor virtual and augmented environments. We refer to the similarity of the rendering parameters as visual 'congruence'. Study participants manipulated the depth of a sphere to match the depth of a designated target peg. In the first experiment, the sphere and peg were both virtual, while in the second experiment, the sphere is virtual and the peg is real. In both experiments, depth perception accuracy was found to depend on the levels of realism and congruence between the sphere, pegs, and background. In Experiment 1, realistic backgrounds lead to overestimation of depth, but resulted in underestimation when the background was virtual, and when depth cues were applied to the sphere and target peg. In Experiment 2, background and target pegs were real but matched with the virtual sphere; in comparison to Experiment 1, realistically rendered targets prompted an underestimation and more accuracy with the manipulated object. These findings suggest that congruence can affect distance estimation and the underestimation effect in the AR environment resulted from increased graphical fidelity of the foreground target and background.

A latent viral immune inflammatory response (LVIIR) model is presented which integrates factors that contribute to chronic multisymptom illness (CMI) in both the veteran and civilian populations. The LVIIR model for CMI results from an integration of clinical experience with a review of the literature in four distinct areas: (1) studies of idiopathic multisymptom illness in the veteran population including two decades of research on Gulf War I veterans with CMI, (2) new evidence supporting the existence of chronic inflammatory responses to latent viral antigens and the effect these responses may have on the nervous system, (3) recent discoveries concerning the role of vitamin D in maintaining normal innate and adaptive immunity including suppression of latent viruses and regulation of the immune inflammatory response, and (4) the detrimental effects of extreme chronic repetitive stress (ECRS) on the immune and nervous systems. The LVIIR model describes the pathophysiology of a pathway to CMI and presents a new direction for the clinical assessment of CMI that includes the use of neurological signs from a physical exam, objective laboratory data, and a new proposed latent viral antigen-antibody imaging technique for the peripheral and central nervous system. The LVIIR model predicts that CMI can be treated by a focus on reversal of immune system impairment, suppression of latent viruses and their antigens, and healing of nervous system tissue damaged by chronic inflammation associated with latent viral antigens and by ECRS. In addition, the LVIIR model suggests that maintaining optimal serum 25 OH vitamin D levels will maximize immune system suppression of latent viruses and their antigens and will minimize immune system inflammation. This model also emphasizes the importance of decreasing ECRS to improve immune system function and to minimize nervous system injury from excess serum glucocorticoid levels. The proposed model supports growing evidence that increasing omega 3 essential fatty acid levels in nervous system tissues may decrease inflammation in the nervous system and improve neural plasticity and recovery from neuronal injury., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This article highlights some research in visual pattern perception that was published in the American Journal of Psychology in the 1960s. Although visual perception research has changed substantially since then, and the term visual pattern recognition is no longer in widespread use, the six articles presented here are some of the most influential of those published by the Journal in its long history. The research is described with an emphasis on how a particular publication influenced others and the field in general.

Two experiments studied perceptual comparisons with cues that vary in one of four ways (picture, sound, spoken word, or printed word) and with targets that are either pictures or environmental sounds. The basic question probed whether modality or differences in format were factors that would influence picture and sound perception. Also of interest were cue effect differences when targets are presented on either the right or left side. Students responded to a same-different reaction time task that entailed matching cue-target pairs to determine whether the successive stimulus events represented features drawn from the same basic item. Cue type influenced reaction times to pictures and environmental sounds, but the effects were qualified by response type and with picture targets by presentation side. These results provide some additional evidence of processing asymmetry when pictures are directed to either the right or left hemisphere, as well as for some asymmetries in cross-modality cuing. Implications of these findings for theories of multisensory processing and models of object recognition are discussed.

Unlabelled: This study investigated the effects of brief mindfulness meditation training on ratings of painful electrical stimulation. In Experiment 1, we used a 3-day (20 min/d) mindfulness meditation intervention and measured pain ratings before and after the intervention. Participants' numerical ratings of pain to "low" and "high" electrical stimulation significantly decreased after meditation training. Pain sensitivity, measured by change in stimulus intensity thresholds, also decreased after training. We investigated, in Experiment 2, how well relaxation and a math distraction task attenuated experimental pain. Math distraction but not relaxation reduced high pain ratings. There was no reduction in pain sensitivity in these participants. In Experiment 3, we directly compared the effects of meditation with math distraction and relaxation conditions. Our findings indicated significant effects of both meditation and math distraction. Consistent with what was observed in Experiment 1, these participants also demonstrated a decrease in pain sensitivity after meditation training. Changes in the mindfulness and anxiety assessments suggest that meditation's analgesic effects are related to reduced anxiety and the enhanced ability to focus on the present moment., Perspective: Our findings indicate that a brief 3-day mindfulness meditation intervention was effective at reducing pain ratings and anxiety scores when compared with baseline testing and other cognitive manipulations. The brief meditation training was also effective at increasing mindfulness skills., (Copyright 2010 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Two experiments investigated whether the recall advantage of pictures and spoken words over printed words in working memory (Foos & Goolkasian, 2005; Goolkasian & Foos, 2002) could be reduced by manipulating letter case and sequential versus simultaneous presentation. Participants were required to remember 3 or 6 items presented in varied presentation formats while verifying the accuracy of a sentence. Presenting words in alternating uppercase and lowercase improved recall, and presenting words simultaneously rather than successively removed the effect of presentation format. The findings suggest that when forcing participants to pay attention to printed words you can make them more memorable and thereby diminish or remove any disadvantage in the recall of printed words in comparison with pictures and spoken words.

This work combines presentation formats to test whether bimodal conditions offer advantages or disadvantages relative to single formats in working memory performance. A dual task that included recall of 3 or 6 items while verifying the accuracy of math sentences was used in 2 experiments. When comparisons were made between single- and dual-format conditions, there was an advantage for items presented as spoken words and pictures simultaneously and individually. In Experiment 2, dual-format conditions had incongruent information, and spoken words were found to interfere with recall of long sequences of pictures and printed words. The findings suggest that when dual-format items are the same, there are some performance advantages when spoken words are combined with pictures or printed words. When the dual formats are displaying different items, however, spoken words are a more powerful distractor than pictures or printed words, and verbal and visual short-term stores can demonstrate similar susceptibility to distractor interference.